Orlando Jones, Demore Barnes Joins Starz’s ‘American Gods’

Orlando Jones (Sleepy Hollow) and Demore Barnes (12 Monkeys) have joined the cast of Starz’s drama series American Gods, which is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, TVWise has learned.

Orlando Jones has been cast as Mr. Nancy, the old African trickster god more commonly known as Anansi, and one of Mr. Wednesday’s oldest confidantes. Like Wednesday, Nancy is ready to bring this new America (and its new gods) to its knees, desperate to light a fire and watch the whole world burn. Demore Barnes will play Mr. Ibis, the keeper of stories, past and present, and he recounts them with great relish. His old fashioned sensibilities do not preclude a wry wit.

American Gods tells the story of a war brewing between old and new gods: the traditional gods of biblical and mythological roots from around the world steadily losing believers to an upstart pantheon of gods reflecting society’s modern love of money, technology, media, celebrity and drugs. Its protagonist, Shadow Moon, is an ex-con who becomes bodyguard and traveling partner to Mr. Wednesday, a conman but in reality one of the older gods, on a cross-country mission to gather his forces in preparation to battle the new deities.

The drama series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Neil Gaiman, is being produced for Starz by FremantleMedia North America. Bryan Fuller, who is also working on CBS All Access’ Star Trek series, penned the scripts for the series alongside Michael Green. The duo also serve as co-showrunners on the fantasy series and will executive produce alongside original author Neil Gaiman. Production on American Gods is presently underway in Toronto for a 2017 premiere.

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